Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Raven
“W hy are you shaking?”
I looked over at Greer and frowned. “I am not shaking. I have hands of steel. I can deal with any stress, a fallen soufflé? Perish the thought. Layer is not laminating? Never. I do not shake.”
My best friend blinked at me, then pointed down at my hands. “You are indeed shaking, my darling.”
I followed her gaze and winced. “Ah. Well. That is unexpected.”
Greer snorted. “Our opening is in three days. We are ready to go. Latte on the Rocks is what we’ve been waiting for. We’re renting out this space. We are in a contractual obligation with an amazing café that I’m still jealous exists and am mad that I did not know about for how long now? We’ve got this down. The beans are ready. The equipment’s in place, and the dishware is ready to go. Our staff of two part-time students is ready to go. We haven’t slept in a month. You’re now moved into your house. Stop freaking out.”
“I’m stressed because this is a big thing. We’re going out on a limb and working for ourselves. People don’t do that in their early twenties. They work for others, learn the business, and then slowly and methodically work towards something like this. It doesn’t happen at our age.”
Greer sighed and leaned against the counter. We had gone with a white and glitter countertop. It was perfect because we had sealed it enough that no matter what we did, it wasn’t porous enough to chip or stain—and glitter made us happy.
The Montgomerys—the building owners—let us do what we wanted cosmetically. A lot of the kitchen had been done by the previous owners, so we hadn’t had to install new plumbing or electric. We’d had to change all of the lighting out, so it wasn’t a garish yellow that made me feel like I was in prison.
Everything was open and inviting, and we used our loan and our meager savings from our families and small inheritances, as well as Hailey’s investment to make this space our own.
All of the chairs were comfortable to sit in, and we even had a fireplace. It was a two-sided fireplace that we shared with the tattoo shop on the other side. So when the fire wasn’t on, and we didn’t have the divider up, you could see between the two businesses.
There were little tables and booths for people to sit and eat sandwiches, my pastries, and drink Greer’s coffee.
We had thought about this long and hard, and it wasn’t like we were starting from scratch, not with this being an offshoot of Hailey’s brand, but it was still ours.
“This isn’t us jumping in feet first without looking where we’re going,” Greer said, for what felt like the fifteenth time. Usually, it was she who was stressing out, and I was the one calming us, but being back in my town, not Greer’s, it felt like I was off-kilter.
Greer was from Portland, born and raised in Oregon, and moved to Colorado because I had wanted to come home. To see my family and to start over.
To stop running away.
Even though it felt as if maybe I should have kept running.
“I know this is also Hailey’s vision, not just ours, but what if this is a huge mistake? What if we go out of business in a year? The food industry is so hard. I mean, restaurants go out of business all the time. Cafés don’t make it. They have cute little names, and then people stop going after a few months because they go where they know the sizing and have the name recognition.”
“Everybody is always going to know how to get a venti caramel macchiato,” Greer began. “And we have those here. We will have what they know and what they want. They’re going to get a good cup of coffee, or a sugar fest if that’s what they want. I’m going to keep them here, just like you will. You are a brilliant pastry chef. You not only can bake a loaf of bread like nobody’s business, but you can also make pastries that make people weep.”
“I’m making sandwiches now. That’s not what I went to school for.”
“You did go to school for this. Stop stressing. And you know it has nothing to do with the fact that we’re opening up a new business in three days. You know it.”
I narrowed my gaze. “Stop it. It is this. It’s our future and our dream—everything could crash down, and then there’d be nothing.”
“So, how is the hot Montgomery?” Greer asked, and I narrowed my gaze.
We had been drunk one night in college, laughing with each other and telling each other secrets. I hadn’t meant to say this one. I had kept it bottled up for so long that not even my best friends had known, which had been a good thing at the time because my secrets revolved around those best friends.
I was the worst sort of person, and I couldn’t go back and fix it. But now Greer knew, and we were sitting in the middle of my secrets.
“Shut up.”
“Does he know you crushed on him?” Greer asked, fluttering her eyelashes.
I cursed under my breath and looked around, as if one of the Montgomerys could pop up at any moment. Considering we were in Colorado, they could. There were dozens of them, maybe more. I didn’t really know. I’d even seen one in New Orleans and one in Portland. They were all scattered, but they came back to their home base. Now I was in their central collection zone. They could be anywhere at any time. I was in their building. They were next door. I could see the feet of someone who was most likely one of them as they walked past the fireplace. I needed to turn the fireplace on and block the view off. Why had I thought keeping that fireplace was a good idea?
“You are currently rubbing your temple so hard you’re going to leave bruises. Are you thinking about the fireplace again?”
“The fireplace is fine. I’m sorry.”
“So, he knew that you used to crush on him?” Greer asked again, completely ignoring my discomfort. We did that to try to push each other toward finding happiness though. Being best friends was sometimes challenging.
“You know what? Yes,” I said truthfully. “When I was still using my Trapper Keeper and before I’d even gotten my period, he knew I had a crush on him. But you know, that didn’t work out.”
For a multitude of reasons, namely because my childhood best friend had also crushed on him, and the two only had eyes for each other. From juice boxes on, they had been inseparable.
And I hadn’t been a third wheel because they had always wanted me with them, until I left.
I pushed those thoughts from my mind and glared at Greer.
She fanned her face. “You know, he’s pretty, though. They all are.”
I narrowed my gaze. “Montgomerys surround us. Don’t fall for one of them. It’s exhausting.”
I hadn’t meant to let that last part slip.
“Not all of the people that surround us are Montgomerys. Yes, Montgomery Security is Montgomerys, though I’m pretty sure that there are a few employees that aren’t. They don’t all look chiseled from stone, with chestnut-brown hair and blue eyes that just pull you in.”
She had just described nearly every Montgomery out there.
“ Greer .”
“And many of the tattoo artists and piercers next door are Montgomerys or married into the Montgomerys. But you know, there’s one that isn’t.”
“Greer,” I warned again.
“Wyatt isn’t a Montgomery. And he’s pretty.”
My lips twitched. “We don’t have time for pretty. And Wyatt has a girlfriend.”
Wyatt owned the bike shop on the other side of us. A lot of people in Colorado liked riding bikes, and he sold them, repaired them, and rented them. It was a good deal, and since he was the end unit, he had space for all of the bike racks outside. We had a full patio because of the way our building curved, so people could eat outdoors when the weather was nice. And Denver, Colorado, had beautiful sunny days. We had a lot more sunny days here than we ever had in Portland. In fact, I had to up my skincare regimen because I had started to get a little pink on my nose, something I hadn’t had to deal with when I lived here growing up.
Every single part of this building seemed to work together. When Sebastian’s family bought the place, they had put thought into what would go in. They had wanted a café and coffee shop, because that’s what worked with the original tattoo shop, and they wanted something similar.
The previous tenants hadn’t worked out.
“Knock knock,” a familiar voice said from the doorway, and I looked up to see part of my past walking in.
I pressed my lips together, feeling as if I had stepped back in time and I didn’t want to be there, because Marley was gone. She wasn’t coming back. I needed to stop thinking about her.
I needed to stop thinking about the little girl I had seen with her bright eyes, who looked so much more like Marley in real life than she had in the photos Sebastian’s parents had sent me.
But Sebastian and little Nora weren’t there, even though I was going to be forced to work next to Sebastian day in and day out. I had done my best to avoid him. I had made sure he never saw me, because I hadn’t wanted to deal with the look in his eyes. I hadn’t known what it would be. He had looked so angry, and lost, and yet happy to see me all at once. And that did not make any sense to me.
I had no idea what to do with him, so I just wasn’t going to think about him at all.
But it was hard to do when his family stood in front of me.
“Hello, Leif,” I said as I waved at Sebastian’s cousin.
“Hey there, Raven. You know, when the family said you were part of the team, it didn’t click until yesterday that you were our Raven.”
“It’s me. A little older, but it’s me. Greer worked with you guys more than I did until now. Sorry about that. I had to move us here.” I moved forward, ducking my head, and hugged him tightly. He kissed the top of my head and I rolled my eyes, but this felt a little more familiar.
Leif was at least a decade older than all of us. He and Lake, who also owned part of the tattoo shop, were close in age, while the rest of the cousins had all lumped together about ten or fifteen years younger than them.
That meant Leif had been in my life as soon as I had met Sebastian, Aria, and Marley.
“You know, every time I see you, you’re getting even more bearded. How is that possible?” I asked, playing with the end of his beard.
He rolled his eyes. “Brooke likes it. And so do the kids.”
Kids. Because Leif Montgomery had two sons now. It was ridiculously amazing and confounding. How had we all grown up?
“He just wants to look like his daddy,” Noah Montgomery Gallagher said from behind him.
I looked over at Sebastian’s other cousin and snorted.
Noah was around my age, and beautiful.
Seriously, women wept when they saw him, went down on their knees, and begged just to be in his presence. At least, that’s what I jokingly said.
He was a great guy. We hadn’t always been in the same school; Denver was a big place with many school districts, so it wasn’t until high school that we all ended up together, and since I was a year ahead of him, we didn’t become friends until later.
“You know, I always thought Austin Montgomery was hot, so I guess that’s okay,” I teased.
Greer clapped her hands. “You know, I’ve met him, and with the little silver at his temples—very hot.”
Leif shuddered. “Please stop talking about my father that way.”
“You should be used to it,” the other man said from the doorway as he moved past Noah.
“Have we met? I don’t think we’ve met.” He held out his hand. “I’m Ford. I work over at Montgomery Security, and I hang out with this idiot,” he said, gesturing toward Noah.
“We’re also roommates because, dear Lord, rent is high, even when you’re renting from the Montgomerys,” Noah teased.
I laughed. “Tell me about it. I just rented a house.”
“The Montgomerys sure seem to be taking over the world,” Greer said as she tapped her chin. “How nice to see you again, Ford.” She looked over at me. “We met yesterday. When you were off dealing with paperwork.”
“I hear there might be pastries?” Ford asked, rubbing his hands together.
I rolled my eyes and looked over at Leif. “You’re all the same. And yes, I have some test batches. Just getting the ovens ready to go for us.”
Noah cracked his fingers. “You’re going to need some taste testers. We’ve got you.”
I just shook my head and gestured them towards the front bar area where people could sit and eat.
“Well, let’s practice. Greer, you want to do your spiel?”
“Welcome, ladies and gents, to the time of your life,” Greer said in a deep and smoky voice, as the guys laughed.
“Not your night job, dear,” I teased, and both Noah and Ford’s gazes narrowed when Leif coughed into his hands.
“Well, good to know your sense of humor hasn’t waned in the years since I’ve seen you,” Leif teased.
I shrugged. “Hey, I had to keep up with all of you guys. I’ve done my best. Now, you don’t get to order, you get what I’ve been making. Sorry.”
“Everything smells wonderful, though I’m allergic to cashews, hope that helps,” Ford put in.
I nodded. “No cashews on the premises today, so don’t worry. I can make an actual note of that and ensure that doesn’t happen.”
“And I don’t have cashew milk today, but I will, but it won’t be an issue. We’re very good about cross-contamination considering all of our own allergies.”
“Okay, let’s taste test.”
“What are we eating?” another familiar voice said from the doorway, and I looked up to see another blast from the past.
Aria Montgomery, Sebastian’s twin and one of my childhood friends.
I had been best friends with Sebastian and Marley. We had been the three amigos, and no one could ever have broken us apart. Aria had her other groups of friends because she hadn’t always wanted to hang out with her twin, but we had still been friends.
It was still so hard to see her because I had left, to go to college out of state, to learn my business, and to run away from something I hadn’t wanted to think about.
And instead of coming back and trying to be my own person, I surrounded myself with my past.
I really wasn’t doing a good job with this.
“Aria, you’re here,” I said as I smiled at her.
She smiled back, gave a little wave, and slid onto the seat next to Noah. “I hear there’s baking. Why are all of you guys here and not over at the business?” she asked.
Aria worked at Montgomery Security, along with Ford and Noah.
She was damned good at her job from what I knew. It would be weird to be seeing each other so often, considering our workplaces were now so close.
“I’m on a break between clients, and they just finished that meeting with the Sandersons. We’re here to bother them for food,” Leif clarified.
“It’s not a bother. We’re practicing. Plus, the whole point of this, you said, was so you had a café next door like you always wanted.”
Aria smiled then. “Well, everybody from our place will probably be heading over soon, as well as the tattoo shop. Legacy’s been waiting for this, and I’m just glad that we’re here for it.”
I did my best to look nonchalant, and I had a feeling only Greer noticed that it wasn’t working. “Everybody from next door?” I asked, my voice going slightly higher-pitched.
Leif shook his head, oblivious, thankfully. “Nick is working with a client, and so is Leo, so they’ll come over when they are done. Two of my staff are on their honeymoon, so they won’t be around, and Sebastian is taking Nora to an appointment with her doctor.”
I froze, my hands going clammy.
“Is she okay?” I asked, images of the flight back five years ago, the quiet sobbing, the screaming hitting me hard.
Leif looked up, confused for a minute at my tone, before pity and sadness spread over his face. “She’s fine. Really. Sorry, it’s just her normal checkup. Nora only had a half day today, so they fitted it in when they could.”
Everybody nodded, and I did my best to ignore the taste of bile on my tongue. “Sorry, I’m a little wired. I blame all the coffee.”
“How dare you blame my precious coffee,” Greer teased as she sat mugs in front of everybody. We had both ceramic mugs and biodegradable ones.
The fact that nobody had actually ordered and Greer had just done what she’d wanted didn’t surprise me because that was Greer.
“How did you know what I wanted?” Noah asked, gaze narrow.
“You’ll never know,” Greer said teasingly.
“She’s psychic, that’s how,” Aria said with a laugh. “Speaking of hanging out, which we weren’t speaking of, but I’m just going to change the subject, we need to do dinner to welcome you back. What do you say?” Aria asked, and then she looked over at Greer. “And, of course, you’re invited. You’re one of us now.”
I looked at Aria, then at Greer, and smiled. “Let’s do it. I’m back. For good.”
As we all talked, I did my best to tell myself that this was a good decision. That we were making strides and coming into our own.
And I wasn’t making another mistake.